Why is my final bill more than the promotional rate despite still being in the promotional period?

[wellyz]

Evening,

 Gave notice of cancellation for my Ultimate Oomph package with VM by calling in yesterday, this was 30 days before my promotional rate ends on 21st Nov 2022 as it was due to go up to £139 (currently paying £79 p/m). The customer services rep confirmed my services will be disconnected on 20th Nov 2022 and my last bill will be generated on 14th Nov for £147.50 despite next month's bill still being in the promotional period so should be £79.00. She couldn't explain why it is £147.50 and not £79, stating the system generates the bill and wasn't down to her. Before I cancelled I asked her if there were any cancellation fees just to make sure I wasn't cancelling too early and she assured me there was no cancellation fee for cancelling yesterday. I actually called the day previous (Thursday 20th Nov) to cancel but the rep told me I was a month and a day too early so would incurr fees if I cancelled with him so I called the following day instead. As such I was keen to confirm there would be no fee to pay for cancelling, I was reassured yesterday that there was no fee to pay.

 So the question is, why isn't my final bill £79 as it should be as I'll still be in my promotional period?

[newapollo]

Hi @wellyz 

Virgin continue to bill you as usual until your disconnection is complete. This helps to make sure your final month of service isn’t interrupted.

You will therefore probably see charges that go beyond your disconnection date, normally because your cancellation date takes effect mid billing cycle.

Once your services are fully disconnected VM recalculate what you’ve used and send an adjusted final bill  detailing any credits you may have for the services you haven't  used. They then refund those monies by cheque

Also see https://www.virginmedia.com/support/help/billing-and-payment/bill-explainer/my-final-bill-explainer 

[Vikki_M]

Hi @wellyz

Thank you for your post and welcome back to our community.

The information provided by @newapollo is correct.

We charge in advance so you may see advance charges on your bill if its been produced whilst the account is pending disconnection.

You will have a revised bill once the account is closed.

If you would like me to through your billing in more detail, I am happy to do so.

Please let me know and I can send you a private message to do so. 

Please pop back to us when you can. 

[wellyz]

Hi newapollo and vikki_m, I understand what you're saying but would like a break down of possible of when exactly I'll be billed, what for and when I'll receive the refund. If one of you can PM me that would be great. 

On a side note, the retention team based in Scotland called and gave me quite a reasonable price to stay with virgin and even upgrade to gig1 with the new hub 5 for no extra cost. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make the decision at the time due to not being able to run it past the wife, I asked the guy offering the decent price/ package upgrade to call me back the following day but unfortunately the call back was from another person who wouldn't get anywhere near the same price and seemed shocked that he colleague had offered me the price I was considering staying with virgin for. Needless to say the decent price wasn't offered and the retention calls have now stopped.

I found it interesting each person seemed to provide their own discount and some were clearly willing to go lower to retain you.

[Ayisha_B]

Hi @wellyz,

Once your services have been disconnected, our system will tot up any bills and credits that are left over, and give you a final bill. If your disconnection date has been booked for 20th November 2022, you will not have received the final bill yet. This is produced up to 30 days after your disconnection, which gives time for any changes you’ve made since your last bill to show on your account.

If it turns out you’ve got some credit on your account, we’ll pop that amount on a cheque and send it to you in the post.

I trust that clarifies things.

Best wishes,